


Professor Brick Wall & Professor Overshare

by Heres_a_gay_theres_a_gay



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Professors, F/F, Fluff, Fluff with a side of angst, I don't think there'll be that much tho, Jealous Lena Luthor, Jealousy, Kinda, Slow Burn, Slow Burn Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, They're professors
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-03-07 15:08:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18875656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heres_a_gay_theres_a_gay/pseuds/Heres_a_gay_theres_a_gay
Summary: Lena Luthor is known at National City University for her amazing labs & being called Professor Brick Wall where as Kara Danvers is known for journalism and is called Professor Overshare. When they're forced to share a classroom, there's naturally some confilt, but there might end up being something good too...





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope your eyes don't bleed

Lena had worked quite hard throughout her first 2 years of teaching at National City University to keep all of her relationships purely professional. She was aware that some students called her Profesor Brick Wall, but she didn’t find it nearly as insulting as some thought she would. She didn’t want everyone knowing about her life, so what?

Kara had worked quite hard on her powerpoint about her life to share with her students at the beginning of the year. She knew that several of them would just use the information to get her off track from class, but she had done it plenty as a kid so she couldn’t be mad at them. Some people called her Profesor Overshare, which bugged her at first but she got over it.

It was the first day of a new school year, which was almost as hectic for the students as it was for the professors. That’s a lie. The professors had it way worse. They were all trying to print out syllabuses at once, several were trying to figure out what happened to the nameplauke that was supposed to be outside their new room, and even more were trying to figure out why they didn’t seem to have any chairs in their classroom. One was even trying to patch a huge hole in his classroom wall that maintenance had never gotten to.

In all of this hubabalue, Lena and Kara were having trouble sorting out their new classrooms - or, rather, classroom. Kara had been assigned to room 348, but that was the same room that Lena had been moved to. There had been rumors going around that with the construction being done on some of the buildings a few teachers would have to share a room, but Kara - mainly a journalism professor - and Lena - most famous for her physics and chem classes - were hardly a sensible pair. 

“With all due respect Dean Grant, I don’t see how this could work out,” Lena was explaining, “Labs and journalism hardly go hand in hand.”

“You’re thinking too small Luthor,” Cat Grant countered, rising from her chair to lean against the front of her desk with her arms crossed. “For Keira’s journalism students it could be an exceptional research possibility, where as your students could practice the skill of giving interviews about their projects.” She pushed herself off the desk to shoo the pair out of her office, saying “Now go do something useful with your time or at least let me do so.”

As the door shut behind them, the two professors looked at eachother, Kara’s face clearly showing nerves while Lena’s was unreadable as always. (Both found the other’s position incredibly irritating.)

“That didn’t work,” Kara finally said.

“I suppose we’ll be sharing a classroom for the foreseeable future Professor Danvers,” Lena said, straightening her already perfect blazer.

Kara couldn’t come up with a response fast enough and the Luthor turned to walk down the hall back to her - their class.

☓☓☓

 

Five minutes. Five. That’s how long it took for Kara to start testing Lena’s unbreakable professionalism.

How, you may ask? All it took was one student coming in a few minutes early to talk to Kara and Lena was gone. The blonde beamed at the girl, talking about not only journalism but also offering to help her with the physics class she had to take.

“You know physics?” Lena couldn’t help but interject.

Kara shrugged nonchalauntly, honestly surprised that Lena had said anything to her at all. “I prefer Quantum, but you’ve gotta start somewhere.”

“Quantum physics?” Lena sputtered softly as the other professor turned back to her student. She really, really wanted to know why a lit professor known for journalism also happened to be versed in the sciences. 

As for Kara, 10 minutes was all it took for her to be reduced to a gay mess - not that she’d admit it. Lena was just perfect in every way - the wide smile she’d give when her students showed interest in the sciences, the soft but not demeaning voice she used to explain topics to them, the way her eyes would light up as she taught… every second Kara watched her teach she became more entranced. 

“You love it,” Kara commented in amazement as their respective classes filed out. At the other professor’s look of confusion, she elaborated. “Teaching them. You love it.”

Lena cocked her head slightly. “Don’t you?”

“Well, yeah, it’s just…” Kara paused, debating if the end of her thought was rude or not. “I didn’t know brick walls could love things.”

That earned a small, bitter smile. “Brick walls can love whatever they want. Luthor’s can’t.”

The blonde was momentarially stuned that she had gotten any response from the other woman, let alone one that bordered on emotional. Once she recovered however, she tilted her head in a similar way Lena had moments ago. “I suppose we’d better fix that then, huh?”

☓☓☓

It had been two weeks of sharing a classroom 348, and let's just say that first day did not set the tone for the rest. Lena insisted on some kind of lab or demo every class, making the room reak of chemicals. Kara's endless piles of reading material were scattered everywhere, the often precarious piles known to fall suddenly and loudly. There was no way that this situation was sustainable, but even the Luthor in Lena was scared of going against Cat Grant. 

Lena was working on a lesson plan when the blonde came barging in carrying a stack of books that barely cleared the doorway. She tried to ignore the noise, but the poor girl couldn’t see were she was going and ended up ramming into a table that Lena had moved for her last class. The Luthor winced at the sound of the 30 or so books falling along side the professor, knowing it was her fault. 

“Are you okay?” she called as she rushed over to help.

The blonde didn’t respond, ignoring Lena’s offered hand to instead pull herself up. Lena stepped back, confused. Kara Danvers was known to be the nicest professor on campus, but she was starting to be somewhat cold around Lena and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

“Thanks” was all Kara mumbled when Lena helped her get the books to her desk.

“No problem,” Lena responded before heading back to her own desk.

They worked in silence for a while, before Kara broke it by announcing that Lena should choose a class to do a collaboration with.

“Pardon?” 

“My Public Relations class always does an interview for their mid-term, I’m not going to make their first interview be for a huge test.” Her tone sounded almost board, as if the answer was obvious. 

“Yeah, that makes sense. But why do I have to choose a class?” Lena asked.

“A lot of the kids in my class are also interested in business, the sciences, or both. Figured a engineering class or something would be a fun start,” Kara shrugged.

Lena wanted to disagree, but then she realized that if she fought this she'd just be proving Sam right and God did she hate it when that woman was right. “Fine,” she tried her best to appear entirely ambivalent. “I have a physics class is the block right after your class, or there's my engineering one right before. They're both working on projects so take your pick.”

Kara half expected herself to beam as she usually did when she got what she wanted, but rather she gave a professional nod paired with a small smile and a “thank you, I'll take a look at them.” She 100% planned to use this in her argument next time Alex tried to say she liked Lena.

 

☓☓☓

“Kara that is not proof that you don't like her,” Maggie spoke flatly, leaving no room for argument - a rare tone for the detective outside of interrogations but one Kara was beginning to know very well.

“What do you mean?!?” the blonde sputtered. “I got what I wanted and I ended the conversation! I didn't even smile that much!”

“Kara, I love you, but you're an idiot,” Alex interjected. “You’ve been using Winn's intro to engineering class for this project for the past 2 years, why switch?”

“This class is closer!” Kara insisted.

“Winslow’s class is bigger, better for a collaboration.” 

“All the students will already be used to the room, they'll be more at ease.”

“Why Lena?” Alex asked, finally giving up and going for the direct route.

“I just told you-” Kara began, but Maggie cut her off.

“Little Danvers, we all know that's why Professor Brick Wall agreed, but why'd you propose it?”

Kara huffed. “Why do I even talk to you guys.”

“Cuz you love me and we're always right,” Alex answered cheekily, earning a shove from her sister.

☓☓☓

“Auntie Lena?” called a soft voice from the room she was currently trying very hard to tiptoe past. The Luthor decided to continue her quest, hoping the toddler would go back to sleep and Sam wouldn't be mad. Another soft, “Auntie?” crushed her resolve though, and Lena slipped into the little girl's room to see what the problem was.

“What's up Ruby? Did I wake you?” Ruby shook her head, so Lena continued her prompting as she picked the girl up. “Well, something must've because Mommy texted me 10 minutes ago saying you were sound asleep.”

“I twicked her!” the toddler stated proudly.

“Oh yeah?” Lena said, trying her best not to laugh at the proud grin of the 3 year old in her lap. “Why’d you go and do that?”

“Cuz I missed you.”

“I missed you too Rubes, but you need your sleep,” Lena chided before deciding it wouldn't hurt to cave just a little. “How about this: you go to sleep, and I'll make sure I can take you to daycare tomorrow, okay?”

This seemed to satisfy the little one, as she quickly scrambled back into her bed and tucked herself in. Lena laughed at the antics before kissing her head and leaving the room. 

“Sure you can postpone your ogling that long?” asked a voice from behind her as she turned to the kitchen.

Lena jumped at the unexpected noise, giving a quiet “Jesus Sam!” before turning to face the source. “First of all, Luthor's don't ogle.”

“We both know you only claim that family when you're gonna lose an argument,” Sam stated matter-of-factly.

“Shut it.” Lena rolled her eyes and resumed her walk to the kitchen to avoid acknowledging her best friend's point. 

Sam sighed, hopping that Kara Danvers decides to make a move someday, because there's no way in hell Lena will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok this is the first long fic I've done & I have no idea how it's gonna turn out. I also can't promise any consistent release dates, or tell you how many chapters this'll be - really I know nothing other than I saw a funny Tumblr post about different kinds of professors & wanted to write it. Hope it turns out good!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam meets Kara, Alex meets Lena. Both very brief encounters but both lead to interesting allegations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to get up, I'm posting a different SC fic today to compensate. Hope your eyes don't bleed.

Gossip was starting to spread about Lena - well, gossip being people questioning if she does feel things after all. It was that idiotic mixed class that Kara made her do. That was the first she heard of it…

“As I said last class, Professor Danvers has a class that needs to do an interview and I volunteered this one. Her students will interview you on your projects, and you are expected to be able to do a demonstration if asked.” Lena had spoke swiftly, getting to the point and making sure everyone knew what was needed and nothing more. She turned to the blonde standing next to her “Professor Danvers, anything to add?”

Kara seemed almost surprised by the offer, but nodded and started speaking nonetheless. “Uh, yeah. For those who don't know me, I'm Professor Kara Danvers and my public relations students are sprinkled among you. Today should be really low pressure, for the PR kids it's just to get used to conducting interviews whereas for you science kiddos it's so you can be used to giving them. I've told them not to go too hard on you, so I expect you guys to do the same. Good luck and have fun!”

Lena did her best to remain impassive as Kara spoke, but a light blush still snuck its way into her cheeks and a small smile to her lips. Once Kara's was done, the students started pairing themselves up - some already knew each other but for most they were finding a random kid from the crowd. Kara watched with a smile for a moment and Lena studied her. 

"Believe it or not, this is why I love it," Lena suddenly shared, looking straight ahead.

Kara's head snapped over and she seemed almost as surprised as Lena, but she decided to see where this went. "What do you mean?"

"A while back, you commented on me loving teaching." Lena nodded towards the students who, at this point, were starting to get into the thick of their interviews. "This is why. When I told my class they'd be interviewed… that excitement, that energy. Being able to help give them that. It's why I love it."

Kara gave a small smile of understanding. "I'm right there with you. Getting to see and feel their excitement to take another step into the world is amazing."

Lena looked back at Kara, returning her smile. 

"You can smile!" Kara exclaimed jokingly.

Lena just rolled her eyes. "Everyone can."

"You have a really nice smile," Kara informed.

Lena went for a snarky comment, but decided that she liked the way things were going and didn't want Kara to go back to being cold to her. Instead she just turned back to the students, letting a small smile stay at the corners of her lips.

Not long after, students were finishing their interviews and filling out of the room. Lena heard the first mumbles of it then. Whispers about her smiling, about her maybe caring about something other than teaching and professionalism. At the time she brushed it off, only hearing one or two kids talking about it and assuming it would go away.

It didn't.

A week later even more kids were talking about it, and it had seeped into her other classes. She was sitting at her desk debating what to do while Kara was trying to conquer the half broken vending machine outside their class when Sam entered with Ruby on her hip.

Lena looked up at the sound, her face lighting up at the sight of her little family. "Sam! What are you guys doing here?" She stood up and walked over to the pair as she spoke, taking Ruby who was reaching for her. "Hey Rubes, how are you?"

"Moma said we should suprise you on your lunch!" The little girl explained. 

Lena looked over to Sam, raising an eyebrow. "You did now did you?"

The woman in question heald up a paper to-go bag. "We both know you never eat enough, so we brought you a salad."

"No ulterior motive?" Lena asked, setting Ruby down and taking the bag from Sam. 

"None," Sam agreed. "But, out of curiosity, where's your desk buddy?"

Lena rolled her eyes, "You passed her on the way in, she probably has her arm stuck in the vending machine at this point."

Lena instantly regretted sharing that information as Sam gasped. "The blonde? Oh my God Lena! That's your type?"

The professor rolled her eyes again, "I don't have a type Sam."

"Sure sweetie," Sam said just as Kara came back, triumphantly holding a bag of Doritos, two granola bars, and a chocolate bar above her head.

"I did it!" she exclaimed before realizing there was someone besides Lena in the room and dropping her arm. "Oh, sorry. I didn't realize - I didn't mean to intrude." 

Sam gave the blonde a smile. "It's fine, Lena's very particular about mixing work and life so we weren't planning on sticking around long."

"Oh, no, I wouldn't want to kick you guys out," Kara rushed. "Uh, an extra granola bar fell out and they're the closest thing to junk food I've ever seen you eat so here ya go," the blonde was starting to ramble slightly, but she handed Lena the bar and continued. "I was actually gonna go visit Alex, so… see ya!" And just as quickly as she had entered Kara was gone.

Lena shook her head with a laugh, unwrapping the granola bar and taking a bite before offering some to Ruby who was now sitting on the edge of a desk and swinging her legs wildly.

"Damn Lena, you've got it bad," Sam muttered.

Lena looked up from the little girl to her mom, confusion evident on her face. "What about that interaction makes you say that?"

"The second she came in you gave her your full attention."

"She came in yelling about her victory over the vending machine." The professor defended.

"You're head shot up like a puppy the second you heard the door."

"Hardly."

"You're eating a chewy brand granola bar with 3 kinds of chocolate in it."

"I love chocolate!"

"You've repeatedly said that the only thing meant to go in granola bars is more granola."

"Fine! Maybe I like her a bit," Lena caved, sitting down with a huff. "You saw her though, how could you not?"

"She is the ying to your yang," Sam agreed, switching from interrogator to mom mode in seconds as she pulled out the salad meant for Lena and mixed in the extra veggies before gently sliding it over to the Luthor.

"Yeah," Lena sighed, half heartedly picking up the fork Sam had brought from home, momentarily appreciating how well her best friend knew her. The proportions of the salad were perfect, and everything was sustainable, reusable, or eco-friendly. "Thanks for the food."

"Wow, Lena Luthor using 'thanks'? You must be really hung up on this girl," Sam teased, trying to lighten the mood. It worked, causing Lena to huff in amusement and shove the mother playfully. That resulted in Ruby shoving Lena for shoving her mom, and soon they were engaged in a very serious tickle fight.

Everything would work itself out she decided, as long as she had her family.

Of course a kid came in next class and asked about her wife and little girl. Lena gave the student a look of confusion, so thrown off by the comment that she didn’t notice Kara’s sour face behind her.

XXX

Kids were talking about Lena, and Kara wasn’t sure how she felt about it. She knew that people knowing things about her made the Luthor uncomfortable, but Kara couldn’t find it in herself to discourage the gossip - she was just as curious as her students. 

Like, who was that woman who brought a kid to see her?

Or, why was Lena smiling more in the few seconds Kara saw her with the strangers than she had in the 2 years she had been teaching here? 

Or, why wouldn’t Lena answer direct questions about them?

The Luthor was a mystery, and Kara was enthralled. 

She decided to ask Alex to stop by, because Alex had always been great at getting information out of people. So, as her freshman literature class ended, Alex strolled in as the students flooded the opposite way. Some grated her, having seen the elder Danvers waiting for Kara or having her as a professor themselves. Alex responded to each of them with a polite nod and a motherly comment before swinging herself over a desk to sit on another (likely at the request of a student judging by the cheering that followed).

“Was that really necessary Alex?” Kara asked, approaching her sister with an exasperated but loving smile.

“It’s always necessary Kar,” the redhead responded quickly before looking around. “So, where’s your roommate?”

Kara rolled her eyes, “I still hate that you stuck with that, but she always helps students during this period. She’s probably coming back soon.” The last part came with a sharp look.

“Is that your way of telling me to behave myself?”

Before Kara could respond, another voice cut through the room. "Based off this one, I could hardly imagine any Danvers having to be lectured. Color me intrigued."

Alex turned on the desk so she had her back to Kara and was facing the door, not at all surprised to see the one and only Lena Luthor picking her way through the rows of desks to get to the pair. "She's the exception."

"Believable. She seems to be the exception to most things." Lena stopped about a food away from Alex and stuck her hand out. "Lena Luthor."

"Alex Danvers." Alex took the hand and shook it firmly, surprised when Lena did the same. They held each other's eyes for a moment before Alex gave a sharp nod and looked back at Kara. "I should probably be heading back to my side of the campus now."

"What?" Kara was confused. "You got here like 5 minutes ago!"

"Yeah, you forgot your charger in Maggie's car and refuse to cross the campus yourself so I did it," Alex explained, pulling a charger out of her jacket (that Kara could have sworn didn't have pockets on the inside) and tossing it to her sister.

Kara pouted, having hopped the elder Danvers would stick around, but Alex seemed unfazed. She hugged Kara, gave a joking salute to Lena, and left with a "bye" thrown over her shoulder.

Lena leaned against the desk, watching Alex leave with a considerate look on her face. It was a similar look Kara had see on Alex’s face when she first met Magie. Was that the look of gay attraction? Kara cringed, though she wasn’t sure if it was at the idea of Lena liking Alex or because of how her brain decided to phrase it. After Alex left neither of them spoke for a moment - Lena sat there watching the door and Kara stood behind the Luthor, watching her. 

“Your sister seems intriguing,” Lena said, her voice giving nothing away and her back still to the woman she was talking to.

“That’s one way to put it,” Kara agreed, unsure of where this conversation was headed.

“She the one who told you to be cold towards me?” The Luthor asked after another pause.

Kara was shocked. “Alex? No, she’s not like that, she’s nice.”

Lena smirked, finally looking over her shoulder to lock eyes with Kara. “That’s exactly what they all said about you.” With that she pushed herself off the desk and walked out of the classroom, efficiently ending the conversation.

XXX

"Good news Kar, she's definitely gay," Alex said instead of hello when she FaceTimed her that night. "That means you've got a shot!"

"For the millionth time Alex, I barely know her. I don't know if I want a shot yet," Kara said with an eye roll. 

"Well, what happened after I left?" Alex asked, and Kara summarized the conversation. When she was done, Alex was cracking up. "You? Mean?" She whipped away a fake tear for dramatic effect as she calmed down. "Not in the slightest."

“Alex, this is bad!” Kara insisted. “She thinks you told me to hate her! What if she thinks I’m being rude to her because of her last name? God, why does she even think I’m being rude to her? Why does everyone I like always end up thinking I hate them?” 

“MAGGIE SHE FINALLY ADMITTED IT!” Alex screamed away from the phone, presumably to summon her girlfriend from the other room. Sure enough, Maggie came sprinting into the frame, leaning over Alex’s shoulder with a grin.

“You did? What broke you?” she asked excitedly.

Kara realized her mistake as Alex started retelling the whole story. She propped her phone up on her coffee table and began to pace her living room floor as her sister described her dilemma.

“Okay, I get it, I admit to liking Lena Luthor, can you guys please just help me figure this out?” Kara finally interrupted.

“No,” they both said flatly.

Kara balked, stopping her pacing to look at the phone. “What?! Why not? Alex, I need your help on this!”

“No you don’t,” Alex insisted before the screen went black.

“Alex!” the professor dove towards the blank screen, quickly trying to call her back but being immediately declined. She groaned, letting herself fall face down onto the floor. “Kill me now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyes intact, so I'ma count this as a win. Idk how long this'll be, what the plot will be, or how often I'll post but it's summer vacation now so I should have some more time for writing. Hope you liked this, and let me know if there's any characters or events you'd like to see & I'll try to incorporate them! (Please I've got serious writer's block half way through the 3rd chapter)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some more development for our useless gays. That convo from last chapter might actually have some effect...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, hope your eyes don't bleed

Kara had paced her living room floor all night, resulting in her being immensely grateful to whoever invented coffee as she drove to work. By that point she had come up with a solution - be the scared little chicken nugget she was and do absolutely nothing. She might give Lena an extra smile or two if she was feeling brave, but that was it.

Lena, to her credit, hadn't freaked out too much after their conversation. Don't get me wrong, there was lots of panic - it was the most direct she had ever been with Kara, and the closest she had come to flirting with her. Still, it went well enough that Sam could talk her down from her ledge and even convinced her to continue with the behavior. So, today, she went in ready to slightly tweak the atmosphere of their shared classroom.

Until she walked in and saw a man with Kara pinned against the desk - they weren't doing anything inappropriate, but they were definitely closer than friends would be. Perhaps she should do more than a tweak.

"Mike, for the last time, I'm not cancelling my classes just cuz you got some crummy nosebleed seats!" Kara insisted, pushing the man - Mike apparently - away from her jokingly.

"C'mon, you've wanted to see the Thorns play for so long!" Mike whined stubbornly.

Pretty sure this wasn't a conversation that would go anywhere judging by the tone of Kara's voice, Lena decided to interrupt. "Sorry to intrude, but I believe this is my classroom as well?"

Kara's head snapped towards her, looking over Mike's shoulder with a relieved expression. "Professor Luthor! It most definitely is, and I've been doing my best to keep this jerk out of it." When Mike realized there was someone behind him - a bit late honestly - he turned around and took a step closer to Kara. 

Lena wasn't sure if that was a joke or if Kara was being serious. Still, she decided to take the words at their face value. She raised one eyebrow in her signature manner and said, "oh, is that so?" before turning her attention to Mike and really studying him for a moment. She supposed he was handsome in that typical frat boy way. Lena made sure her eyes hovered over every imperfection and made him squirm before saying, "What was your name again?"

"Mike," the man said proudly, as if he was a child that had just gotten down the pronunciation.

"Hm, interesting." Lena walked over to her desk, leaning against it and pulling up a random document on her iPad. "Well Mark -" she made sure to pause briefly after messing up his name - a minor power move that her father had taught her. "Have you been asked to leave?"

Mike hesitated. "Uh, it's Mike, but yeah - Kar-"

Lena's head shot up, fixing the man with a steel gaze. "If Professor Danvers asks you to leave, you do so, understood?" He didn't respond. "Understood?" she tried again, but when he still tried to stare her down she pushed off her desk and walked over to him. "I said, understood?" she spoke in a low, menacing voice that left no room for debate.

He gulped. "Understood." 

"Good," she stepped back, waving a hand dismissively and returning to her desk. "Do what you'd like, but keep it PG so long as I'm here."

Kara sputtered, and Lena smirked to herself as she got lost in her lesson plans. She wasn't sure if that was flirting, but it sure had the same rush.

XXX

Kara didn't know where it had come from, but Lena was suddenly way more friendly than she used to be. She would smile back at Kara as well as initiating the occasional conversation - and with her reputation, most people in the school would see that as a proposal from the young Luthor.

Kara didn't though. She saw it as Lena finally accepting that they were going to be stuck sharing a classroom for the full year if not longer, and deciding to try and make it pleasurable. Alex disagreed.

"Hey Kara," Lena said, walking into their shared class one morning.

"Hey," Kara had responded as if it was a daily occurrence - which Alex, who was leaning against Kara's desk, would later learn was. "Is it okay if Alex hangs out here for the day? Pest control is spraying her room today."

"Yeah, no problem," Lena shot Alex a small smile before sitting down at her desk and opening her laptop.

Kara got up and walked over to Lena's desk, looking through some of the papers casually. "Do you have that research paper I asked you to fact check?"

Lena looked around briefly before plucking a packet off the top of a pile and handing it to Kara. "Most of his stuff is good, though I did highlight a few things that are out dated. Nothing I'd dock him for though if I were you."

"Awesome, thanks Lee," the blonde strolled back to her own desk to glance over the paper herself.

Alex looked at Kara in amazement, mouthing "what was that?"

Kara looked confused. "A conversation?" she whispered. 

The elder Danvers sighed. "I'm hungry, wanna go get something Kara?"

Kara looked even more confused. "I mean I guess, but don't you hate-"

Alex cut her off by grabbing her arm and dragged her out of the room. "Awesome let's go," she said, speaking notably faster than usual.

Once they had distanced themselves from the classroom, Alex stopped and spun to face Kara. "what was that?" Alex asked again.

"What are you talking about?" Kara said, feeling she had to defend herself against Alex's harsh tone. "You're the one who just dragged me out of my classroom!"

The other professor realized how aggressive she must seem, and altered her approach. "Sorry, that was a touch dramatic. But Lena Luthor greeted you when she walked in!"

Kara raised an eyebrow - a trick Lena had taught her. "As most people do."

Alex sighed, deciding not to comment on the eyebrow for now. "But she used you're first name!"

"Per my request," Kara agreed.

"And 'hey'!" 

"Like several other people on the planet."

"You called her Lee!"

"We've developed nicknames, yes."

"You looked through her papers!" 

"In search of something I asked her to look over. I don't see what the big deal is."

"Kara, Luthor doesn't let anyone on campus use her first name, let alone a nickname. She always greets people formally if at all, and she never lets anyone near her desk."

"We're friends," Kara said as if it explained everything. 

"Luthor doesn't have friends," Alex inisted. "Now, as I'm sure you know I hate campus food, so we're going to Nona's."

Kara followed her sister, still confused as to why it was a big deal but deciding to drop the topic. Her and Lena had developed a sort of friendship and she wasn't going to let Alex get in her head about it.

XXX

"Professor Danvers?" Kara looked up to see what must've been one of Lena's students standing in front of her desk. "Professor Luthor told me to ask you about a journalism thing if that's okay?"

Kara glanced over at Lena's desk, where she was already talking to another student. "Yeah sure," she said, sitting up straighter and looking back to the student.

"Awesome, so I know journalists have to categorize their sources somehow…" he began, though Kara was only half listening. Lena had finished talking to her student and Kara could feel her eyes on her.

Once she had helped him, Kara's brain went straight to why Lena had been looking at her. Was it a test? If so, had she done well? Was this all just a test? Why was Lena even her friend? Was Lena even her friend? She stopped herself. She had let Alex get in her head about it. God this was gonna be hard.

XXX

"Hey Lee?" Lena's heart skipped a beat at both the nickname and Kara's voice. "Wanna do another collaboration class? Finals are coming up and usually I use an interview as my final test."

Lena smiled, "I would love to. My final is usually how much progress they've made and how well they can explain it so comparing this paper and the first would be a great test."

Kara beamed in return, "awesome!"

Lena watched her walk away, because she couldn't help it.

Lena found herself staring at Kara every chance she got. When they occasionally merged classes Lena, rather than looking straight ahead, found herself looking at Kara. When she would enter the room Lena's eyes were immediately drawn to her, and once they were it was near impossible to take them away.

But compared to her need to hear Kara the staring was nothing. She spoke to her every chance she got, no longer flirting because Sam said she should but flirting because it sent Kara rambling. She would email Kara cat videos from across the room to hear her laugh, she would pay rapt attention every time the blonde helped a student. Even though she was sure it was nearly impossible, Lena hopped Kara didn't notice. Fuck this was going to be hard.

XXX

"Alright, settle down!" Kara called in her most authoritative voice - which, considering what a puppy she was, wasn't that impressive. Still, the students respected her enough to stop their chatter and give her their attention.

"That might be the fastest I've ever seen journalism students stop gossiping," Lena teased.

Kara rolled her eyes but still grinned at her co-worker. "It's their job," she defended before turning back to their combined class. "It's nearly the end of the semester, which as I'm sure many of you have discovered means finals." The class let out a collective groan and Kara smiled. "I'll take that as a show of excitement."

Lena picked up where Kara had left off, moving her eyes from the blonde to the room. "You will be conducting an interview with the partner you choose for your intro and midterm papers. We accept it's been a while and that you might not all be the best of friends, so Professor Danvers made a list of your pairings. In my class the 3 interviews will be used to measure your progress alongside any other summaries of your project you have submitted."

"The same goes for my students," Kara seamlessly continued, well enough Lena herself was almost convinced they'd practiced (they hadn't). "The three interviews will be compared for progress, as well as this one being graded on its own meaning this interview will result in 2 major grades. No pressure." she added the last part with a mischievous smile and delivered it in a way that made it clear the intro was over.

As the class descended back into it's (sort of) organized chaos Kara looked over to see Lena smirking at her. 

"What?" the blonde asked.

Lena's smirk only deepened in response before she turned and walked to her desk. Kara wasn't quite sure but she thought she saw a blush on the young Luthor's cheeks.

XXX

"Sam! Of course she noticed!" Lena exclaimed later that night, sitting on the couch with her best friend while Ruby played on the floor in front of them.

"Lena, you have the lightest blush ever. She'd need superspeed to see it," Sam reassured.

Lena groaned, dropping her head into her hands. "She looked over and I was just staring at her! And I couldn't even come up with a reason!"

Sam sighed in defeat, throwing her arm around the younger woman's shoulders. "You'll be okay."

XXX

"Alex! Alex I think I made her blush!" Kara squealed when Alex came over for sister night.

The elder Danvers just sighed, rolling her eyes good naturedly. "This is becoming more of a catch up with Lena night than anything."

Kara ignored her. "Okay, so we were doing that combined class right - did I tell you about that?" 

Alex didn't even bother answering, rather she moved to the couch with the bags of takeout she'd brought and began to dig in as her sister rambled on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at that, I posted another chapter! I've posted a few one shots between, but that's just cuz I couldn't think of anything to write for this so please don't be mad! Like always, if you have any ideas or anything you'd like to see feel free to comment & I'll see what I can do.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam & Alex meets & the plot thickens. (Also I'm 100% torn between Sanvers & AgentReign, but I threw Maggie in at the beginning of the story so that's who we're sticking with)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope your eyes don't bleed

Alex was making her way through the halls of National City University when she ran into a body - or, rather, a body ran into her from behind. A very small body. She turned and looked down to see a small girl sitting on the ground, presumably where she fell after bumping into Alex.

"Ruby!" called a woman jogging to catch up with the child - Ruby apparently.

"Mama!" the child responded excitedly.

"I'm sorry," the brunette said as she reached them and picked up Ruby. "She's just really excited to see her aunt."

"It's fine, just glad she doesn't seem hurt," Alex reassured. "Students bring kids all the time, I should really be watching out for them at this point."

The woman smiled, slightly bashful but mostly kind as she shifted a takeout bag from one hand to another. "Well, thank you for being understanding. I'm Sam by the way, and this is Ruby." She nodded to the little girl in her arms. "She's a toddler and very proud of her ability to run."

Alex smiled at the pair, clearly mother and daughter. Even without Ruby calling Sam Mama, or without their clear resemblance, the motherly way Sam handled the girl made it clear.

"Well, you are very fast," Alex said to Ruby before looking up at the mother. "Who are you here to see?"

Sam hesitated. "If I tell you she might be really mad. She prefers to keep work and life separate."

Alex grinned. "So you're the pair everyone's been gossiping about."

Sam tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"There's been lots of debate going around about how you two are connected to Luthor, ever since you brought her lunch a while back. Most people are saying wife and daughter, though no one's thought of sister and niece."

Sam looked appalled at the idea. "Lena and I are definitely not married. She's my best friend. She used her family to help support Ruby and I - and she's gonna kill me for telling you that."

Alex just laughed. "It's okay, I won't tell anyone." She hesitated before adding, "other than my sister."

Sam groaned. "That's how secrets spread! I'm gonna be in so much trouble."

Alex laughed again, assuring the brunette that Kara wasn't one to share secrets before offering to walk her to the class - she needed to visit her sister anyway.

Sam's eyes widened. "Your sister is Kara Danvers?"

Alex looked sideways at her as they began walking with Ruby in the middle, holding her mom's hand. "Yeah, why?"

Sam glanced around the hall to make sure no one could hear what she was about to say. "You can't tell anyone," she whispered, leaning in, "but Lena has the biggest crush ever on your sister."

"Small world, cuz I could say the same for Kara."

Sam let out her own laugh. "Do you think either of them will ever make a move?"

Alex shrugged. "I don't know about your girl but Kara's barely admitted to her crush."

Sam snorted slightly. "That's better than Lena."

"We probably shouldn't hold our breath than should we?"

"Definitely not."

XXX

When Alex strolled into the classroom with a cocky grin behind Sam and Ruby, Lena got a sense of dread deep in her stomach.

"What did you do?" she hissed to her best friend, pulling her aside.

"Nothing, I promise."

Sam's reassurance was proven false when Alex piped up, "So, Luthor, wanna have a tea party?"

Sam shook her head at the word choice that went clear over the Luthor's head. "Pardon?"

"It's what the students seem to be calling gossip sessions," Alex explained.

Lena turned to Sam, glad beyond words that it was just the three of them in the room and Kara wouldn't be back for at least an hour - she had gone to lunch with a friend, Professor Schott, not ten minutes ago. "What. Did. You. Do?" she demanded.

"It wasn't her fault," Alex defended. "I'm very persistent."

Lena groaned. "God, just spit it out."

"I just may have told her a smidge about the beginnings of our friendship, that we're best friends, and that you like a certain blonde," Sam spoke quickly in the hopes it would somehow soften the angry glare she would surely receive. It didn't.

"What the hell Sam!" Lena exclaimed. "I'm trying to build a friendship with Professor Danvers and you run off to tell her sister a bunch of BS?"

"BS?" Alex raised two doubtful eyebrows, not buying it for a moment.

"Yes, BS," Lena repeated. "I'd think you'd know what that stood for with how much the students rave about your penchant for the term."

"Lena," Sam's tone had a dull edge to it, just enough to remind the Luthor that Alex was not only a coworker in science as well as at this school, but also Kara's sister on top of that. She needed to reign it in.

She took a deep breath. "My apologies. I don't do well when I'm caught off guard." The last part was said with a pointed look at Sam and a signature eyebrow raise.

Alex nodded. "Understood. Still, if you're going to deny your crush on my sister - which I won't get in the way of - you might want to tone down the heart eyes. Most will probably buy the friend thing - Kara sure as hell is - but not when you stare at her like she hung the stars in the sky."

And with that, since Kara wasn't here, Alex turned to Sam to offer a "nice to meet you" looked down at Ruby with a wink, and strolled out of the classroom.

"How long do you think 'till Kara confronts you?" Sam asked, picking up her daughter and leaning against Lena's desk.

"If she ever does, it won't be Alex's doing. I trust her to keep her word." She didn't know the elder Danvers all that well, but Lena knew she never broke a promise - it was the first thing anyone who knew her mentioned, followed closely by her amazing research.

"The word she didn't even give?"

Lena sighed, pushing off her desk and grabbing the bag of food from Sam's hands. "She wouldn't be a Danvers if she said what she meant."

XXX

Kara was back about half an hour after Sam and Ruby left, announcing herself with a "hey Lee" before making her way to her desk and sitting down.

"How was your lunch?" Lena asked from her side of the room.

"Good, thanks," Kara caught a take out container in the corner of her eye, resting on the top of the Luthor's small trash can. "Since when did you order takeout?"

Lena seemed confused, until she followed the crystal blue eyes to her trash. She smiled. "I didn't, Sam and Ruby stopped by. They brought me a salad."

Kara was surprised - Lena had started mentioning things every now and again, but she was always vague. "my friend" or "a kid I know", never names. She decided to press her luck.

"Sam and Ruby?" 

"Yeah, I think you've met them briefly," Lena paused, thinking. "Though, I don't believe there were any actual introductions. Sam's on the taller side, tan, brunette. Ruby's her kid, about 3 so much smaller but she looks a hell of a lot like her mother."

Kara didn't let the shock stop her from continuing her - possibly rude - investigation. Those were the two that had stirred up so much drama around the time Kara found out Lena had thought she hated her. "Yeah? Family friend?"

Lena tilted her head with a small smile. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." The professor turned her chair so she was facing her desk, and Kara knew the talk was over. Still, it had been quite the conversation in comparison to most of theirs.

XXX

"Who ya texting," Maggie asked, coming up behind the couch to sling her arms around her girlfriend's neck.

"Sam," Alex responded, tilting her head slightly so Maggie could see the screen. "She's a friend of Luthor's that I met today."

"Luthor has friends?" Maggie walked around the couch to sit next to Alex, the taller woman immediately leaning into her side. 

"Apparently."

"'Useless gays'? 'Take initiative'?" Maggie read some phrases from their text chain.

Alex smiled up at her girlfriend. "Sam confirmed that Lena likes Kara right back, so we're trying to figure out how to get one of them to admit it."

Maggie eagerly pulled out her phone. "Add me, I've gotta be a part of this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo.... What do you think? This one's a bit shorter than usual - about 600 words shorter actually 😬 but still. I couldn't think of anything more for this chapter cuz the plot I didn't know I had until like a week ago is about to start & figured this was a good place to break it. Hope it wasn't too bad, thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam helps Alex through her & Maggie's sudden breakup & they grow closer. Everyone has plans to start.   
> This one has a few time jumps, so lemme lay it out a bit...  
> Breakup: about a week into 2nd semester  
> Lunch: a few weeks after the breakup  
> Sam being jealous™️: 3 months after the breakup  
> End scene: 4 months after the breakup, only a week or 2 left in the school year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope your eyes don't bleed

Alex groaned at the insistent knocking on her door. "Go away Kara," she yelled around a mouth full of ice cream.

"Try again," a voice called back. Not the voice Alex was expecting. "Kara gave me a key, she said to just let myself in… you have till the count of 5 to give me a valid reason not to. One… two…" Alex briefly scrambled for a good excuse, but quickly realized she had none so she let the other woman finish her count down and let herself in. "... Five, I'm coming in!" 

Sure enough there was the click of the lock before the door creaked slowly open, just far enough for Sam to poke her head around.

"Go away Sam," Alex insisted, burying herself further under the covers. She had honestly thought the Arias would be too polite to come in without an invitation.

Sam's eyes swept the scene, the dark apartment, the empty bottles with various alcoholic labels, the peppering of icecream containers every once in a while to contrast the rest - she almost made a joke about Alex design skills, but once her eyes landed on the brunette head barely visable under all the blankets she stoped short.

"Oh Alex…" 

She set down her purse and walked to the couch briskly, kneeling next to her disheveled… friend? Sure, friend. Friend who she had talked to maybe twice without it relating directly to Kara. Friend who she'd talked to five times without anyone else around. Friend she had never planned anything with - okay, so maybe Kara had some unknown motive for sending the younger woman to comfort Alex, but the professor had trusted her so Sam was here.

She gently peeled back the covers to reveal the rest of Alex's red and puffy face, covered in dried tear tracks. 

"We're gonna get you cleaned up okay?" 

Alex didn't respond.

"I'm gonna take that as a yes," Sam got up as she spoke, moving into the kitchen in search of a rag. "First we're gonna clean up your face - tear stains feel awful." Finding one, she turned on the faucet and checked the water temperature before dampening the square of fabric and moving back towards Alex. "Then you're gonna brush your teeth, and I'm gonna lay you out some clean pajamas cuz Kara says you haven't changed in days, and then we're gonna watch a movie okay?' 

Once Sam was done methodically cleaning Alex's face she pulled the smaller woman to her feet and guided her to what she believed to be the bathroom - she was also quickly realizing she had never been in Alex's apartment before and had no idea what was behind these doors. 

Luckily her first guess was right and she set Alex up with a toothbrush and toothpaste before padding out to find some clothes. Upon her return, a baggy orange t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants folded neatly in her arms, Sam was only partly surprised to find Alex hadn't moved. She set down the clothes and guided the Danvers through brushing her teeth and changing. Alex had little to no reaction to any of it, often not understanding a simple command like "raise your arms" or "open your mouth".

Until she looked in the mirror and saw the worn and faded shirt Sam had grabbed her. Then the tears she thought she had used all of were streaming down her face once again.

"Hey hey hey," Sam wrapped her arms around the shaking woman and guided her to the floor when it became clear that Alex wasn't in much of a standing shape anymore. "I know, I know, it hurts. I'm sorry. I know," she mumbled this and other soft words into Alex's hair as the older woman broke down in her arms. She had no idea what had triggered it but Sam was going to help her through it.

 

XXX

 

"How's your sister?" Lena asked as she entered their shared classroom that morning.

Kara looked up from her paperwork, her worry clear in the crinkle between her brows. "I don't know. Last time I went over she wouldn't even let me touch her. I sent Sam over since Alex seems to like her… hopefully it's going better for her."

The Luthor sighed in understanding, walking over to sit on the edge of Kara's desk. The blonde turned her chair slightly so she could look up at her friend. 

"I'm sure it'll all work out," the dark haired woman reassured. At Kara's disbelieving look she amended herself. "Or, at least, she'll be a functioning member of society again."

Kara leaned back in her chair with a defeated huff. "Maggie left her after 2 years." She looked back up at Lena. "How am I gonna help her through that?"

"Well, I think a good first step would be to get rid of that crinkle, and then get through your work day. You can't help her if your both bums."

Kara's crinkle just deepened. "I have the crinkle?"

Lena gave a soft chuckle as she slid off her perch. She gently cupped Kara's face between her hands, guiding the blondes head up to plant a kiss over the offending spot. The tension dissolved almost immediately. "There," she said softly as she leaned back, "all gone."

She took a step back just before a student entered, poking his head through the door. "Excuse me, are you Professor Luthor?"

The woman in question turned to the boy with a professional smile, the one almost always firmly in place on campus. "That would be me. How can I help you?" She lead him over to her desk with the same confident stroll she always used, the same control evident in her movements. 

Kara realized all of this, her jaw slack as her brain caught up with what had just happened. 

 

_ Had Lena Luthor just kissed her? _

 

XXX

 

"Okay Alex," Sam strolled into the professor's office like she owned the place, as she had been bringing her lunch ever since the breakup. "I think we should go out today."

The Danvers raised two suspicious eyebrows. "Out? Like, in public? Like, in public places that Maggie and I almost definitely went to?"

"Yup," Sam affirmed, "We're even gonna go to the part of campus you met in."

Alex threw her head back, staring at the ceiling as she tried to decide how to feel about this. She was against it, clearly, she just needed to sculpt a good argument. "My lunch is short on Tuesdays-"

"It's Wednesday."

"Office hours-"

"Your's aren't for another 3."

"Papers-"

"Nothing a TA can't do has been done in weeks."

"I'm not getting out of this, am I?" Alex asked, looking back at the woman in front of her.

"Not today," she agreed with exaggerated pep.

The shorter woman rolled her eyes. "I hate you."

"No you don't!"

XXX

 

"Alex!" Sam had stopped by Lena's class on her way to bring Alex lunch - after managing to get her out and about yesterday she was going to go easy on her today. She was surprised to find the wrong Danvers in the room.

"Oh, hey Sam!" Alex had been leaning over Lena's shoulder to read something on the screen, but straightened as soon as she realized Sam had entered the room. "I ment to text you, I got Lena to help me with a reasurch project so I'm gonna be here a few times a week on my lunch."

Sam gave a small smile, trying to get rid of the jellousy stabbing at her heart.  _ Lena likes Kara and Kara likes Lena, _ she reminded herself,  _ Alex wouldn't even consider going there.  _

"No problem, I'll just start bringing salads too. We can make it a group thing," Sam assured. Alex had never paid this little attention to her when she was in the room. The shards in her heart twisted when Lena did something science-y on the computer and Alex completely forgot she was in the room to be amazed over it.

"Might want to tone down the glaring there budy," Kara appeared next to her, holding out a open chip bag in offering. Sam took one with a weak smile before looking back to the scene infront of them. "Alex's heart eyes only come out over science and you. Lena just happens to connect to both of those things."

Sam's glare melted into confusion. "Me?"

"Yup," Kara popped the p, strolling off towards her desk.

Sam quickly noticed how, despite her seemingly carefree demeniour, the blonde was carefully avoiding looking at the other two professors. "Looks like we're both jealous," she mumbled to herself as she set up her lunch.

 

XXX

 

That quickly became their routine, all four women making sure to sink up their lunch breaks to meet in the Danvers/Luthor room. Sam would bring the food and every once in a while a card game or something. 

"How long until Sam asks Alex out?" Kara whispered to Lena during one such lunch.

The Luthor gave a sharp and sudden laugh. "Sam? The day she asks out your sister is the day the Sun explodes."

Kara's brow furrowed. "But she does like her right?"

"Oh definitely," Lena nodded, not a doubt in her mind. "She's just too much of a whimp to ever go out on a limb like that."

Kara hummed in thought. "Alex is the same way."

"Besides, Sam wouldn't ask Alex out even if she had the guts to. She's convinced that the breakup is still too fresh."

Kara's eyebrows shot up. "It's been four months!"

"Yeah, I think Sam thinks it'll take the summer."

"We should make that our summer mission then," Kara proposed. Her eyes widened, realizing that they had never really talked outside of school and Lena might not want that to change and she might have just overstepped some invisible line and-

"Definitely," Lena inturupted her racing thoughts, that one word quieting her panic in a way that only Lena could do.

Just a few feet from the pair, Alex and Sam were having a similar conversation.

"There's only a few weeks left in the school year," Sam began. Alex nodded her agreement, so the younger woman continued. "They've been giving eachother heart eyes for almost 9 months, that's like…"

"A pregnancy?" Alex offered.

Sam laughed loudly at that. "Yeah, sure. A pregnancy. I think we should put our plan into action over the summer."

"Operation LAID?" Alex asked.

"I still don't think Lena would take the Danvers name, but yes."

"Looks like we've got some planning to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope that wasn't horribly shity, I only had the opening scene written for ages & I felt bad so I whipped out the rest in like 30 minutes. The story is coming to a close, the next chapter will cover the process of the plans & after that I think it'll be pure fluff for a chapter or two & the we're done. Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oop it's gay girl summer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope your eyes don't bleed

Kara was antsy. Like,  _ really _ antsy. It was the first Monday of summer break and the longest she had gone without seeing Lena since the start of the school year. She considered shooting the raven haired woman a text, coming up with some excuse to hangout, maybe something to do with their plan to get Sam and Alex together. But it was only the third day they hadn't seen each other, did that seem desperate? Did it send the wrong message? Did-

Her spiralling thoughts were cut off by a text. 

**Lena: Do you want to grab some coffee and talk strategy?**

Kara smiled slightly at the strict grammar in the text, trying her best to wait a few seconds before responding.

**Kara: sure, Nonna's in an hour?**

Lena texted back a thumbs up - the only reason Kara believed she was actually 29 was because she used emojis - and Kara walked to her closet to over think her outfit. 

30 minutes later she had a light blue button down and dark jeans laid on her bed (for anyone else she would have made the same choice in 15 but she ignored the voice sounding suspiciously like Alex reminding her of the fact). She took a quick shower, got dressed, and pulled her hair to one side - not how she usually did it, but it looked good. She took a deep breath and checked the time - a total of 55 minutes to get ready, giving her 5 to get to Nonna's which is a 2 minute drive. She grinned at her timing and grabbed her keys on the way out.

 

XXX

 

"Kara," Lena smiled as soon as she saw the blonde, standing and doing her best not to look over eager. She had missed the woman dearly, even if it had barely been three days. This was set to be a long summer.

She was pulled from her thoughts when Kara smiled back, immediately going for a hug. Lena couldn't remember the last time she hugged someone other than Ruby or Sam, but it felt nice. Kara smelled like the books she surrounded herself with, and her embrace was warm.

They pulled apart and sat, neither of them happy at the loss of contact or the distance the table put between them but also neither willing to do anything about it - after all, you'd barely call them friends right?

The waiter took their order - five sticky buns and a latte for Kara, a scone and an espresso for Lena - and the pair started planning.

"I think step one would be making them fully admit their feelings," Kara began, "but if Sam is as stubborn as Alex-"

"More so I'm sure," Lena inserted.

"Then I have no idea how to get them to do that," Kara finished.

They fell into silence, still in deep thought when the waiter brought their food.

"Oh my Lord Kara those are huge!" Lena couldn't help but exclaim when she saw the sticky buns neatly placed on a plate. Each was bigger than her hand and covered in enough frosting to give the healthiest man alive diabetes.

Kara just shrugged, grinning sheepishly. "I exercise."

Lena briefly thought back to last week when Kara had taken off her jacket in class, exposing defined arms and sculpted shoulders - she hadn't been able to focus on her grading for the rest of the day. Yeah, the bubbling beauty across from her definitely exercised.

From there they never really got back to the topic of getting Alex and Sam together. They talked through two coffees, deciding to go for a walk with the third. Neither of them were really aware of the passage of time, just enjoying themselves in the other’s company. It was the most relaxed either of them had felt in a while and both were happy to bask in it. 

Suddenly Lena’s ringing phone popped their bubble. They had discarded their empty coffee cups and were wandering aimlessly through a park downtown. Lena immediately recognized Sam’s ringtone - the Aris had set it as her laughing with Ruby. So what if the professor had kept it through two phone changes? It was cute and convenient, sue her. 

Right now though she wished she couldn’t differentiate, that she could convince herself it was a spam call and ignore it.

She really didn’t want this moment to stop.

Nonetheless, the fact that Sam rarely if ever called her made her pull the vibrating device out of her pocket.

“Hey Sam, what’s up?” Lena included her name for Kara’s benefit. The blonde nodded, taking a few steps back in a small gesture of privacy.

_ “What’s up?”  _ came the crackly version of her best friend’s voice.  _ “Sometimes I forget how deep you’ve fallen for this girl.” _

“Shut it,” Lena hisses with a quick glance over at the girl in question who could almost definitely hear at least part of what was being said on the other line, despite her politely pretending not to.

_ “All right all right. Just calling to check which hospital you’re in.” _

“Why would I be in the hospital?”

_ “Because you said you’d be here for movie night like an hour ago.” _

"There's no way-" Lena pulled the phone away from her ear briefly to check the time. The look on her face was so appalled that Kara couldn't stop a small snort. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realize the time, I'll be there soon. Apologize to Ruby for me?"

_ "Don't sweat it, Rubes' has been asking all day about your date." _

Sam hung up the second her sentence was up, not giving Lena a chance to yell at her about it. As much as she loved the woman, she seemed to lose all the level headedness she prided herself on when Kara was brought up.

Still, the Luthor's fuming face earned a full laugh from Kara - head thrown back, eyes sparkling, shoulders shaking. Lena's annoyance was immediately replaced by something else. 

It wasn't something logical, but it was something nice.

 

XXX

 

Alex found herself in a similar position when Sam hung up the phone. She had been transfixed with sparkling brown eyes the whole time the woman was on the phone, but as soon as she started laughing Alex's stomach started doing flips in time.

"Oh my God she's gonna kill me," Sam said through her laughs.

Alex tilted her head slightly. "You've been saying stuff like that to her for months."

"Yeah, but Kara was right next to her," Sam's explanation came with an evil glint in her eyes and a sharp smirk that almost gave Alex a heart attack.

She covered it with laughter. "If they keep going at this rate operation LAID won't even be needed."

"Luthor's assimilation into Danvers is still a shitty name," Sam insists.

Alex rolled her eyes with a smile - half their planning had just been them debating the name but neither was protesting.

 

XXX

 

The first few weeks of Summer passed in quite a similar fashion - Kara and Lena hanging out more and more as time went on but never actually talking about their plans. Alex and Sam were slightly more dedicated, but very stumped.

"They've both said they have a crush on each other," Sam recapped, "but neither will admit it's anything more than that. What're we supposed to do with that?"

"Kara upgraded 'crush' to 'actually like' last night," Alex offered.

Sam's hand flew to her chest in mock offence. "You didn't alert me of this vital development immediately?"

Alex heald her hands up. "Hey, you know my phone's been messed up!"

"You should have driven over here the second it happened!"

Alex's laugh was deep and genuine. "Okay, I'll make sure to do that next time."

Sam's smile finally broke through, the laugh of the woman in front of her filling her chest with a feeling she hadn't felt in years before Alex.

"What if we made one of them jealous?" Alex suddenly asked.

Sam's jaw dropped. "Yes."

 

XXX

 

They asked Lucy, a humanities professor on campus, if she'd be interested in playing the part. Lucy was always a fan of a good scheme and jumped on the opportunity, already thinking of how she could use her friendship with Kara to further the plan.

"Kara's not the type to get jealous," Alex was saying.

"But Lena's not the type to show if she is," Sam finished.

"Which gives us quite the dilemma," Lucy nods as she speaks, gears turning in her head. "I'm already friends with Kara, so I could get closer to her without any risk. Plus it's very hard to make her show her possessive streak."

"She also might just talk to you if you went for Lena," Sam added. "Lena would talk to you once, but it's more likely she'd just snap if we could make her jealous."

Alex leaned back, shrugging. "Lena it is then."

 

XXX

 

"Hey Kara," Lucy called excitedly, spotting Kara and Lena as soon as she walked into the coffee shop. Alex had gotten a Snapchat from Kara of Lena with a coffee stamped with this shop's label. A bit of searching and Lucy was on her way to crash their not-a-date date.

"Luce!" Kara's excitement was palpable, especially since Lucy was almost always chaperoning abroad trips and rarely in town.

The blonde wrapped her in a bear hug, picking up the shorter woman and spinning her in a circle. "I missed you too babe," Lucy laughed, patting Kara's shoulder in a request to be put down.

When they separated Lena didn't look quite as excited. "I don't think we've met."

"Oh yeah, I'm Lucy," she stuck out a hand, "Lucy Lane. I work at NCU like Kara, but I'm mainly teaching abroad programs."

"Lena Luthor, nice to meet you." Lena's grip was just tight enough for Lucy to doubt that. "I'm a professor there as well, Kara and I actually happen to share a class."

"Oh, you teach journalism?" Lucy asked politely.

"I'm more into the chem and engineering scene," Lena corrected.

Kara, oblivious to the mood of the room, slung an arm over Lucy and offered her a seat with them. Lena's brief frown at the idea almost made Lucy smile. This would be too easy.

 

XXX

 

It had been almost three weeks of Lucy infiltrating lunch dates, answering Kara's phone, and dropping by the blonde's apartment unannounced in hopes of finding Lena there. While the Luthor's glare would now haunt her dreams for years, little progress had been made. The trip was running out of ideas.

"Plan LAID might be a dud," Lucy said one day during a meeting.

"You can't deny they like each other though," Alex defended.

"Oh no, that much is obvious," Lucy agreed. "I've just used every possible thing I can without running my friendship with Kara."

Alex and Sam glanced at each other, silently debating if they wanted to go there.

"Half way through break Lena always goes back to her classroom," Sam started slowly, trepidation clear in her tone.

"Kara is gonna go too…" Alex added.

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "You want me to go full fledged flirt in the class they share?"

The other two women offered nothing more than small smiles.

 

XXX

 

A few days later Lucy found herself calling Kara when she knew she was at the college with Lena. It rung a few more times than usual and Lucy almost thought she wasn't going to answer when the ring was replaced by a smooth but harsh voice.

_ "Can I help you?" _

_ "Lee, if you're gonna answer my phone can you do it a little nicer?" _ A voice Lucy recognized as Kara's called from seemingly far away.

_ "Fine. Hello acquaintance of Kara Danvers, she's currently on a very precious stack of books with enough pins to kill someone stuck in her mouth trying to put up some posters so you'll have to accept my stand in." _

_ "Rude but fair." _

"Oh, hi, sorry I didn't realize she was busy," Lucy lied. "I was gonna ask if she wanted to hang out but-"

There was a thud on the other end of the line accompanied a shrek Lucy knew well.

_ "We're in our classroom, do what you want,"  _ Lena's response was brief and she hung up immediately after. Lucy - already driving to the school - speed up a little in concern for her friend.

 

XXX

 

She walked in to find Kara propped up against the wall with Lena checking her over for wounds. 

"Kara, you look like a pin cushion," Lucy couldn't help but tease.

"Hey, this is better than the last time you said that to me," Kara justified with a smile.

Lena just rolled her eyes, ignoring the banter that made her stomach twist.  _ She  _ was the one who bantered with Kara about her recklessness.

_ That's a stupid thing to be possessive about,  _ she scolded herself.

It didn't make a difference.

Lucy slung Kara's arm over her shoulder and, despite being much smaller, carried the woman to her desk and sat her down. Lena went off to find Band-Aids and Lucy set about taking the pins out and cleaning the cuts.

Lena came back to find Lucy much to close to Kara with far too little progress being made in the extraction of pins. 

"You know, you have really nice eyes," Lucy saw Lena return out of the corner of her eye and decided to lay the act on thick. She spent far more time than necessary dotting at the one cut on Kara's cheek. "And really soft skin."

Kara blushed, looking down. "Thanks."

Lucy was practically sitting in Kara's lap, caressing every spot she cleaned. Lena stood rooted to the spot, watching the scene from the doorway. Lucy went for one final attempt, leaning in ever so slightly so it looked like she was going for a kiss.

Suddenly Lena was at their side, all but shoving Lucy away as she slotted herself in front of Kara. For a minute Lucy thought she was just going to kiss her, but instead Lena straddled the blonde. She wrapped her arms around her neck, and Kara's hands instinctively rested on the Luthor's waist. 

"Everything okay Lee?" Kara didn't seem upset about the sudden motion, but she did seem slightly concerned.

"If Lane would stop playing with what wasn't hers I'd say yes."

Kara looked up into dark green eyes, a question posed on her face she was sure Lena could read but voiced anyway. "What has she been playing with?"

"You." Lena lowered her head so their foreheads brushed.

"Who's am I?" Kara's voice was shallow and breathy - no way this (incredibly hot thing) was going where she thought it was.

"I'd really like you to be mine," the confidence Lena had been exuding melted away enough to show her vulnerability as her voice softened. "If you'd like that too."

Kara didn't think, just surged her face up to meet Lena's lips. Kara lead the soft kiss, pulling Lena's body flush against hers. Lena couldn't help but moan at the action, which was where Lucy drew the line.

"Okay, I get this is like your first kiss or whatever, but I'm still here." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this took so long! I plan to add a fluffy follow up but I mean y'all saw how long it took me to update this so like --  
> But yeah, sorry I suck at commitment & hope y'all enjoy!


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